Most swings have seats which consist of a rigid platform. The platform may be a short wood plank or may be a molded plastic article. There are some swings with flexible swing seats consisting of rubber or plastic straps. These have an advantage over their rigid counterparts in that if a moving seat happens to strike a child, it will not cause serious injury.
Both the rigid and flexible seats are invariably suspended by a pair of chains or ropes from an overhead support such as the crossbar of a swing set. The lower ends of these chains are usually connected to the seat by way of eye bolts or rigid wire hangers at the opposite ends of the seat. These separate pieces of hardware must be stocked by the manufacture and either installed by the manufacturer or the customer. Therefore, they increase the overall cost of the swing and the difficulty of swing assembly. It would be desirable, therefore, to be able to eliminate these parts without adversely effecting the strength and reliability of the swing.